The deal was stuck in neutral. My client, the daughter of a very rich man, had a lot of money but no real source of income. Because of the scarcity of employment, her mortgage lender kept prodding her for more and more paperwork.

She began to bristle, and then she vented her frustration at me. “There’s nothing I can do” would not have made this particular client satisfied; she was used to getting her way. So I tried another tack.

“You can ask your dad to cosign, “ I said. “Just so you know, he’ll likely have to be at the closing.”

“No way!” She was fuming. “I am doing this on my own. Is there anything else you can suggest?”

I smiled and said, “Sure. You can pay cash for the house and do away with the mortgage altogether.”

“Perfect! I’ll get the money from my old man by Friday, and we’ll close it that way.”